Automatic door operator



Nov. 15, 1966 E. E. LODGE 3,284,952

AUTOMATIC DOOR OPERATOR Original Filed March 22, 1962 4 hee s-Sheet 1INVENTOR. EDWARD E. LODGE ATTOR NEY Nov. 15, 1966 E. E. LODGE AUTDMATICDOOR OPERATOR 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed March 22, 1962 INVENTOR.EDWARD E. LODGE ATTO NEY Nov. 15, 1966 E. E. LODGE 3,284,952

AUTOMATIC DOOR OPERATOR Original Filed March 22, 1962 4 Sheets-Sheet 5INVENTOR. EDWARD E. LODGE ATTO E Nov. 15, 1966 E. E. LODGE 3,284,952

AUTOMATIC DOOR OPERATOR Original Filed March 22, 1962 4 heets-Sheet 4INVENHm. EDWARD E. LODGE BY va/l/ ATTORNEY United States Patent3,284,952 AUTOMATIQ DOOR OPERATOR Edward E. Lodge, 2881 Plymouth Road,Cleveland, Ohio Original application Mar. 22, 1962, Ser. No. 181,647,now Patent No. 3,202,415, dated Aug. 24, 1965. Divided and thisapplication Nov. 27, 1964, Ser. No. 414,115 7 Claims. (Cl. 49-360) Thisis a division of application Serial No. 181,647 filed March 22, 1962,now Patent No. 3,202,415. This invention pertains to a door operatingmechanism for opening and closing vertically movable doors such asgarage doors.

This invention is a further development of the device shown, describedand claimed in United States Patent 2,925,267, issued February 16, 1960;to Matt A. Volf. In the Volt patent a motor and drive device isconnected to one of the upper corners of the door and is coupled to oneof the two side rails on which the door travels by a rubber drive rollerand a pinch roller.

In the parent application the claims are directed to the U-shaped rigidconnector between the door and the motor unit. In the presentapplication the claims are directed to a toggle mechanism for clampingthe pinch rollers to a track.

It has been found by experience that certain types of garage doors tendto cock and bind in their two spacedapart tracks or side rails whendriving power is applied only to one corner of the door. This can beespecially noticeable in 16-foot or double doors where the span betweenthe tracks is quite wide.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a toggle clampingdevice for quickly and easily clamping pinch rollers to a rail, andwherein a simple, inexpensive and easily operated adjustment permitsadjustment of the coupling pressure exerted by the pinch rollers on therail.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a door operator whichis resiliently clamped to the regular door rail or to an auxiliary rail,and wherein the clamping mechanism is reversible so it can be used oneither the right-hand or the left-hand rail; the clamping mechanismbeing adjustable to establish the proper coupling between drive andpinch rollers, and being releasable in the event of power failure, andwhich above all does not unduly load the gears and bearings of the motordevice.

For a better understanding of the present invention, together with otherand further objects thereof, reference is had to the followingdescription taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, and itsscope will be pointed out in the appended claims.

An aspect of the invention lies in the provision of a toggle device forpinching together on either side of a rail a pinch roller and a driveroller. The toggle device is located between the motor unit and therollers and engages the axle of at least one of the rollers. Theoperating arm of the toggle device has two positions: one in which nopinching bias is established between the two rollers and the second inwhich the arm is in an overcenter, stable, position and a strong bias isexerted forcing the rollers together on either side of a rail. Simpleadjustment means are provided so that by merely turning the operatingarm the magnitude of the bias can be changed.

With reference to the drawings there is shown in FIG- URE l a section ofa garage and a garage door, showing a regular door track and the unit ofthe present invention mounted between the regular track and the door.

FIGURE 2 is a side view of the mounted operator showing the door in itsup position.

FIGURE 3 is an end view of the mounted operator showing the toggleclamp.

FIGURE 4 is a side view of the toggle clamp.

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view taken through the portion of the devicewhich connects the operator to the door.

With reference :to FIGURE 1 the reference character indicates a garagewall and the door is indicated by reference character 11. A pair ofregular tracks or rails 12 (only one of which is shown) are connected tothe garage 10 in any suitable manner and constitutes the two spacedapart rails on which the door 11 runs. The motor unit 14 of the presentinvention is connected to the door by hardware means 15 and to the rail12 on which the door runs by means of pinch roller means 16, 17. Thusthe standard door rail, without modifications, is used by the operator,and it is not necessary to add a special center rail for the operator.Further, it is not necessary, as it has been in the past where theoperator runs on one of the regular door rails, to have a drive rolleron the far rail with a power connection from the motor unit to the fardrive roller to prevent cocking and binding of the door.

The operator or motor unit comprises four major components; the first ofwhich is the rotor 14 and the gear box 21 which through shaft drives therubber belt drive roller 16; the second of which is a U-shaped connectorwhich is connected between the motor and gear box units 14, 21 and thedoor; the third of which is the connector means for connecting theU-shaped connector to the regular door hardware; and the fourth of whichis a toggle clamp 50 for clamping the two drive rollers 16, 17 togetheron opposite sides of the door rail 12.

The details of the motor unit 14 and of the gear box 21 are not shown ingreat detail, but they comprise a series wound motor which drives a wormgear 22 which in turn drives a gear 23 in the gear box 21. Gear 23drives the rubber drive roller 16 which is tightly couple to theunderneath side of the track 12.

As shown in FIGURE 3, the rubber roller 16 is grooved to accommodate theunderneath side of track 12. The shaft 19 of the coupling roller 17 ispivotally mounted by pivot means 18 to the top of the gear box 21 andextends across the gear box toward the track 12, carrying with it therotatable coupling wheel 17 at its outer end. A U- shaped locatingdevice 24 mounted on the top of the gear box 21 receives a portion ofthe shaft 19 to prevent it from moving sideways, as shown in FIGURE 2.

The motor and gear box unit 14, 21 carry two mounting brackets 25, 26(FIGURE 2) to only one of which the U shaped connector 30 is rigidlybolted by two spaced-apart bolts 27 (only one of which is shown inFIGURE 1) for right-hand rail mounting and to the other of whichbrackets it may be bolted for left-hand rail mounting.

The U-shaped connector 30 is shown in detail in FIG- URE 2. Itpreferably is made of hot rolled steel rather than spring steel in orderto reduce costs, though of course spring steel may be used. It iscomprised of two legs 31, 32 which are substantially parallel with aninterconnecting arcuate portion 33 connected to the two legs and forminga closed end. The other end is open and at the open end the leg 31 hasan outwardly extending mounting bracket 34 which is connected to themotor and gear box unit 14, 21 by means of the two bolts 27. Leg 32 ofthe U-shaped connector has connected to it by bolts 36 two spacedaapartL-shaped connectors 35, one leg of each of which has a hole through itthrough which the axle of a regular door roller 39 extends to establisha pivot about which pivotal motion takes place between the door and themotor unit as the door opens and closes. Between the 3 spaced-apartL-shaped connectors 35 (FIGURE 1) and mounted around the axle 40 of thedoor roller 39 is the upper door bushing 41 which forms part of theregular door hardware and which is tightly connected to the door 11 byflat plate 42 screwed to the face of the door.

It is very important that the L-shaped connectors 35 be bolted tightlyto the broad U-shaped connector 30 and that they bear against the edgesof the door bushing 41 so that there is no lateral play of the bushing41 between the L-shaped connectors 35. Since the width of the doorbushings 41 can vary from door to door, the legs of the connectors 35which are bolted to the U-shaped connector 30 each should have atransverse slot 37 (FIGURE to accommodate bolts 36. Thus upon mountingthe door operator to the door, using only the unmodified regular doorhardware which is found at the top door roller 39, the two L-shapedconnectors 35 are pushed in as close to each other as possible, theregular door bushing 41 holding them apart. The bolts 36 are thentightened. This, together with the broad U-shaped connector 30, providesthe highly important stability at the location where the operator isconnected to the door. This stability is essential. Otherwise the cornerof the door has some lateral freedom and the door will cock and bind.Thus it will be seen that one of the important functions of the U-shaped connector is to permit pivoting action about axle 40 with respectto the bushing 41 with an absolute minimum of any other motion, thusconstraining the corner of the door and the door operator to move up anddown as a unit.

At the other side of the motor unit, opposite from the U-shapedconnector, the rubber drive roller 16 and the coupling roller 17 areclosely coupled to the track 12, and since the coupling roller is withinthe groove of the track and the rubber roller is outside and is shapedto conform to the bottom of the track, the motor unit is constrained to-move parallel to the plane of the track. This forces the upper cornerof the door to which the motor unit is connected to move in a planeparallel to the track, and prevents cocking and binding of the door inits tracks.

The device of the present invention is the first door operator which canrun on only one of the two regular door tracks, without a drivingconnection across to the opposite door track, and operate the doorwithout binding,

even through it may be a loose fitting 16-foot wide door.

The U-shaped connector 30 has a second major function. In conjunctionwith a micro-switch 45 mounted on one of its legs and electricallyconnected into the motor circuit, it serves as a safety device.

When the door is moving down and hits an obstruction, the legs 31, 32 ofthe U-shaped connector while having controlled rigidity in a transversedirection can move toward each other, the arcuate portion 33 bendingslightly, and the micro-switch 45 is actuated by switch arm 47 connectedto leg 32 to break the electrical circuit to the motor. As shown,micro-switch 45 is carried by the bracket 46 connected to the connectorlegs 31 and it extends toward the other connector leg 32 on which ismounted the adjustable switch actuating blade 47. The blade 47 is aspring member which is held in position by an adjustable screw-threadeddevice 48- which is threaded through the leg 32 into engagement with theblade 47 to adjust the permitted amount of bending of the U-shapedconnector 30 before the micro-switch 45 operates, thus to adjust theamount of force the downwardly moving door will exert be fFre themicro-switch is actuated to shut off the motor.

Since the U-shaped connector 30 is made of hot rolled steel rather thanspring steel it is essential that it not be over-bent. To prevent thisthe bracket 46 serves another purpose. A stop device 55 is connectedbetween the bracket 46 and the opposite leg 32 of the U-shaped connector30. This stop device, after the connector bends enough to close switch45, exerts a positive stopping action between the legs 31, 32 at theopen end thereof, which prevents over bending of the connector,especially in the portion 33.

Another important feature of the door operator lies in the motor unitwhich comprises the series wound electric motor, the gears to the rubberdrive roller and the drive roller. Because a large gear 33 is driven byworm 22 and a small rubber coupling roller 16 is used, it is possible touse an inexpensive series wound motor. Preferably the diameter of therubber drive roller 16 should be not greater than the diameter of thecoupling wheel 17, and the diameter of the gear 23 should be about twicethe diameter of the drive roller. This permits the use of the serieswound motor with its advantage of maximum torque at zero speed.

An important feature of the invention claimed in this application is thetoggle clamp 50 which tightly clamps together the two pinch rollers 16,17 on opposite sides of the track 12.

The toggle clamp 50 comprises a bushing 51 which surrounds the axle 20at a location between the rubber roller 16 and the gear box 21. It isimportant that the toggle be just as close as possible to the rubberroller and the pinch roller. Otherwise the lever arms and the forcesinvolved work to a disadvantage. A broad collar 52 bears against thebushing 51 and is connected to a long handle 53. A ball and socket jointis formed between the partial ball 54 and a socket formed through thearm 56. Arm 56 is welded to the pair of hook arms 57 which extend upover and are hooked around the shaft 19 of the pinch roller 17. FIGURE 4shows the toggle clamp in two different positions; the solid linedrawing showing the position wherein the toggle is in its clampingposition and the dotted line drawing showing the position wherein-thetoggle is in its relaxed, or unclamped, position. In this secondposition the clamp can be taken off, completely releasing the tworollers from each other. A chain or rope may be connected through hole58 and extend downwardly so that a person can readily move the handle 56from the clamped position to the other in the event of failure of theelectric power so that the door can be operated by hand. The handleportion 53 is in threaded engagement with the stem portion 59 which isconnected to the collar 52. If there is wear on the rubber pinch roller16 tending to reduce the coupling between rollers 16 and 17, rotation ofthe handle 53 in the proper direction will re-establish the propercoupling force. Rotation of handle 53 in a counterclockwise directioncauses the stem portion 59 to be thrust out toward the bushing 51. Thisoperation is best performed while the toggle is in its relaxed positionshown in dotted lines. Thereafter when the toggle is thrown into itsover-the-center, stable position, an increased biasing force will beexerted between the two rollers.

While there have been described what are at present considered to be thepreferred embodiments of this invention, it will be obvious to thoseskilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be madetherein without departing from the invention, and it is, therefore,aimed in the appended claims to cover all such changes and modificationsas fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property orprivilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. In a door operating device for use with a motor operated verticallyslidable door mounted on track means and wherein the motor means isconnected to the door; a pair of rollers mounted on spaced apart axlemeans one a pinch roller and the other a drive roller, at least one ofwhich is made of resilient rubber-like material and at least one ofwhich is driven by said motor means, one of said rollers engaging oneside of said track means and the other engaging the opposite side ofsaid track means at a location opposite said first roller; toggle actionpinching means located between said motor and said rollers for squeezingsaid rollers together on opposite sides of said track including a hookengaging one of said axles and bushing means engaging the other axle;pivot means for connecting the motor to the door for pivoting motionabout an axis parallel to the axes of said pinch rollers and rigidagainst other motions; and a connector rigidly connected to said pivotmeans and rigidly connected to said motor means; said pivot means, saidconnector and said pinch rollers in said track forming a, rigidconnection, except for said pivoting motion, which holds the dooragainst cocking motion in respect to the track means.

2. A door operating device as set forth in claim 1, furthercharacterized by said pinc'h roller axle means having its roller mountedat one end thereof, means pivotally connecting the other end of saidaxle means to said motor means whereby said pinch roller can be raisedand lowered in respect to said drive roller, and by said toggle actionpinching means located between said pinch roller and said motor meansexerting a clamping action through said hook and bushing on said axlemeans pulling said pinch roller toward said drive roller.

3. A door operating device as set forth in claim 2, furthercharacterized by said toggle action means being mounted on said bushingaround said pinch roller axle extending from said motor means to saiddrive roller, and having said hook portion of said toggle deviceconnected over said pinch roller axle.

4. A door operating device as set forth in claim 3, furthercharacterized by said toggle action means including adjustment means foradjusting the pressure exerted by the toggle means between the pinchrollers thereby to adjust the degree of clamping action obtained betweenthe drive and pinch rollers to compensate for wear and loosening ofparts thereof.

5. A door operating device as set forth in claim 4, furthercharacterized by a manually operable lever connected to said togglemeans whereby manual release of the coupling action between said driveand pinch rollers can be obtained by moving said lever.

6. In a door operating device for use with a motor operated verticallyslidable door mounted on track means and wherein the motor means isconnected to the door; a pair of rollers mounted on spaced apart axlemeans, one a pinch roller and the other a drive roller, at least one ofwhich is made of resilient rubber-like material and at least one ofwhich is driven by said motor means, one of said rollers engaging oneside of said track means and the other engaging the opposite side ofsaid track means at a location opposite said first roller, said pinchroller axle means having its roller mounted at one end thereof,

and means pivotally connecting the other end of said pinch roller axlemeans to said motor means whereby said pinch roller can be raised andlowered in respect to said drive roller; toggle action pinching meanslocated between said motor and said rollers on opposite sides of saidtrack, said toggle action means including a hook engaging one of saidaxles and bushing means engaging the other axle means for exerting aclamping action through said hook and bushing on said axle means pullingsaid pinch roller toward said drive roller, at least the said hookportion being reversible whereby said door operating device can beattached to either the right hand or left hand rail of a door; saidtoggle action means including adjustment means for adjusting thepressure exerted by the toggle means between the pinch rollers therebyto adjust the degree of clamping action obtained between the drive andpinch rollers to compensate for wear and loosening of parts; pivot meansfor connecting the motor to the door for pivoting motion about an axisparallel to the axes of said pinch rollers and rigid against othermotions; and a connector rigidly connected to said pivot means andrigidly connected to said motor means; said pivot means, said connectorand said pinch rollers on said track forming a rigid connection exceptfor said pivoting motion which holds the door against cocking motion inrespect to said track means.

7. A door operating device as set forth in claim 6, furthercharacterized by said bushing portion of said clamping means beingpermanently connected to said motor shaft and by said bushing portionincluding threaded means, complementary means for threaded engagementwith said permanently mounted threaded means and in engagement with anarm which hooks over the shaft of the pinch roller, said threadedcomplementary means providing pressure adjustment and being separablefrom the permanently mounted threaded means for reversal of said hookarm.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 6/1956 Richmondet a1. 26874 2/1960 Volf 268-59

1. IN A DOOR OPERATING DEVICE FOR USE WITH A MOTOR OPERATED VERTICALLYSLIDABLE DOOR MOUNTED ON TRACK MEANS AND WHEREIN THE MOTOR MEANS ISCONNECTED TO THE DOOR; A PAIR OF ROLLERS MOUNTED ON SPACED APART AXLEMEANS ONE A PINCH ROLLER AND THE OTHER A DRIVE ROLLER, AT LEAST ONE OFWHICH IS MADE OF RESILIENT RUBBER-LIKE MATERIAL AND AT LEAST ONE OFWHICH IS DRIVEN BY SAID MOTOR MEANS, ONE OF SAID ROLLERS ENGAGING ONESIDE OF SAID TRACK MEANS AND THE OTHER ENGAGING THE OPPOSITE SIDE OFSAID TRACK MEANS AT A LOCATION OPPOSITE SAID FIRST ROLLER; TOGGLE ACTIONPINCHING MEANS LOCATED BETWEEN SAID MOTOR AND SAID ROLLERS FOR SQUEEZINGSAID ROLLERS TOGETHER ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF SAID TRACK INCLUDING A HOOKENGAGING ONE OF SAID AXLES AND BUSHING MEANS ENGAGING THE OTHER AXLE;PIVOT MEANS FOR CONNECTING THE MOTOR TO THE DOOR FOR PIVOTING MOTIONABOUT AN AXIS PARALLEL TO THE AXES OF SAID PINCH ROLLERS AND RIGIDAGAINST OTHER MOTIONS; AND A CONNECTOR RIGIDLY CONNECTED TO SAID PIVOTMEANS AND RIGIDLY CONNECTED TO SAID MOTOR MEANS; SAID PIVOT MEANS, SAIDCONNECTOR AND